Eating Disorders:
A Growing Problem
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Eating disorders are fast becomming a common problem in the United States. Statistics show that currently there are approximately between 5 and 10 million women in the United States who suffer from some kind of eating disorder, or are at the borderline of developing one.
It is also not true that eating disorders just affect young women. People of all ages and from any kind of background can be affected. It is estimated that over one million boys and men suffer from some form of eating disorder.
However, there are many experts who believe that this statistic may be distorted because many men with eating disorders are not accurately diagnosed. Studies have shown that many men are told that they are simply exhausted tired or depressed. Doctors fail to realise that these men are actually suffering from an eating disorder.
So what is an eating disorder? It simply refers to a condition whereby you have an unhealthy preoccupation with food and body image. The most common types of eating disorders are anorexia nervosa, bulimia, and binge eating. Anorexia describes a condition whereby you just refuse to eat due to an obsession with weight loss. Bulimia is characterized by a cycle of binging and purging that you use to control your weight. Binge eating disorder is an eating disorder that involves sessions of intense overeating followed by feelings of intense guilt. Other disorders that are related to eating disorders include emotional eating and nocturnal eating.
One startling statistic reveals how prevalent eating disorders actually are in the United States. According to recent research, the number of people suffering from an eating disorder is three times as much as the number of people currently living with AIDS. Another statistic tells us that there are three times as many people with eating disorders than there are schizophrenia patients in the United States.
One of the root causes of eating disorders is the way beauty and body image are constantly being portrayed by the media. Fashion magazines and TV commercials present the ideal American model to be 5'11" tall and of 117 pounds in weight. Yet, the average modern American woman is 5'4" tall and weighs approximately 140 pounds. Inevitably, this disparity in the numbers can only result in eating disorders developing so that the perfect body weight and shape can be attained. Who does not want to look like a model?
Even young children nowadays
are consumed by thoughts of weight and physical beauty. Recent studies
find that about half of all American elementary age school children would
like to be thinner, expressing dissatisfaction with their current appearance.
Even Kindergarten aged children are anxous about their looks and fear
gaining weight. Some have even gone on diets so that they can look better.
Eating disorders used to be virtually non-existent with young children.
In modern days, this is no longer the case.
About the author:
Sandra Kim Leong writes on eating disorders. For more information and
resources, please visit her site at http://www.eating-disorder-research.com.